I’ve been in Texas quite a bit this summer and was introduced to the HEB grocery stores. They aren’t just supermarkets; they are megamarkets–but they are also clean, spacious, well-laid out, and they carry everything you could possibly need.
Now I know where the stores got their name (pronounced “H,” “E,” “B”): They were started by a man named Howard E. Butt. His son, Howard E. Butt, Jr., who took over the company, just died at the age of 89.
He ran the company after his father died, but after awhile he turned the management over to other members of his family and used his wealth for Christian philanthropy, from supporting Billy Graham’s ministry to funding church camps. But his biggest cause was living out the Christian faith in the workplace.
For years, he did a 60-second spot on Christian radio entitled “The High Calling of Our Daily Work.”
I have never heard any of these spots. (Have you? If so, please report.) I’m not sure of his specific theology of vocation (he was a Baptist), but he deserves credit for reminding Christians of this crucial teaching.
From Texas evangelist and philanthropist Howard E. Butt Jr. dies | Religion News Service:
Howard E. Butt Jr., the Texas evangelist and radio personality who was expected to take over his family’s successful grocery business but instead devoted his life to Christian causes, has died.
The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease. Butt died Sunday (Sept. 11) at his San Antonio home. He was 89.
Butt was the former head of the H.E. Butt Foundation, which takes as its mission “the renewal of the Church,” and runs retreat programs and a Christian camp for children.
He was perhaps best known, though, as the fatherly voice of one-minute radio spots, called “The High Calling of Our Daily Work,” in which he gently preached that people should make Christianity the cornerstone of their life’s work.
With evangelist Billy Graham he created the Layman’s Leadership Institute, which coached businesspeople to speak on how faith can influence leadership. Butt also served on the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. . . .
“He realized that every Christian is called to serve, not just those who have positions in ministry,” Graham continued. “For this reason, he was an early pioneer in the area of workplace ministry, encouraging the body of believers — whether they be businessmen, doctors, carpenters or teachers — to see their work as their calling and to do it as unto the Lord.”
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